My Top Five….

….coaching cues that I repeat on a daily basis.

“Butt back”. Too many people break at the knees first when attempting to squat.When squatting you have to get your butt back in order to get those glutes working to generate any amount of decent strength. That and pushing your butt back is going to take some stress off your knees. If you’re having a hard time with this concept go to box squats where you’re actually trying to sit back on the box.

“Shoulders back”. The effectiveness of any pulling exercise is going to rely on your ability to bring your shoulders back as you bring your arms closer to your torso. From a posture standpoint your shoulders should sit back. When doing any rowing exercises think about driving your blades together. When doing any vertical pulling exercises think about bringing your shoulders down towards your back pockets…if you have back pockets in your shorts or sweats.

“Get tall”. This phrase is probably the most repeated one throughout the day. This one doesn’t even apply to any specific exercises but is more of just self awareness. Getting tall puts your spine in the alginment it wants to be in. Plus it looks a hell of a lot better and exudes confidence. I hear people say, “Strong is sexy”. I might start using “Tall is sexy”.

“Glutes tight”. Everyone has glutes, but you would never know it by the way people do not use them. Again, this is another cue that is just going to make an exercise more effective. If you’re in a half kneeling position tightening up your glutes is going to increase your stabilization. If you’re doing a deadlift or kettlebell swing, tightening up the glutes is going to help you finish off the lift. Being a tight ass in some parts of your life isn’t such a bad thing.

“That ain’t it”. This usually occurs after I’ve told someone what exercise they are going to do, show them that same exercise and then I have them go do it. The problem is that when they go do it, it looks nothing like anything the exercise they are supposed to be doing. A split squat turns into a standing single leg hamstring curl with an overhead press. That’s when I know someone is not really tuned in and instead thinking of who is about to get voted off of Idol that night. So sorry to see you go, Pia.